Earlier this month Google released two new Chrome extensions—Color Enhancer and Animation Policy—aimed at making it easier for those with disabilities to interact with the web, and today it’s taking its accessibility efforts much further. The company this morning took the wraps off Impact Challenge: Disabilities, a $20 million grant program from Google.org, the charitable arm of Google tasked with supporting nonprofits changing the world for the better through the donation of grants, technology, and the knowledge of Googlers looking to give back.
Pre-orders of LG’s new flagship Android smartphone, the LG G4, have gone live for several major carriers in the United States, and now it’s U.S. Cellular’s turn. Through a tweet sent out on Saturday from U.S. Cellular’s official Twitter account, the carrier confirmed that pre-orders of the G4 on the regional carrier will begin May 29th in-store and online.
@_Stewartwhaley On May 29th the pre-sale begins in stores and online. ^AH
The G4 has shipping dates of early June for all of the big four, via information gathered from Best Buy pre-order pages and tweets. So while this tweet doesn’t provide a hard date from when the phone can be purchased outright it’s easy to assume that U.S. Cellular’s variant will also have wide availability starting around the first week of the month. And if you do pre-order a G4 from U.S. Cellular (or elsewhere), LG will throw in a couple accessories for free if you visit this official promo site within two-weeks of receiving your device.
Huawei is a rising Chinese mobile device manufacturer who’s name isn’t exactly easy for those of us in English-speaking countries to pronounce. Considering that we’re still hearing rumbles of the company’s desire to grab hold of consumer mindshare here in the United States, it’s about time for them to clear these simple pronunciation issues – which is exactly what they’re beginning to do.
The company released a short bit to its UK YouTube account today of a group of individuals performing “vocal warmups,” led by Gordon Friend, a coach from the “Future Facing Association of Pundits” (yes, “FFAPs” just like it sounds). The short then turns to learning how to properly pronounce the names of different Arsenal F.C. football players as they’re brought into the room. Because you’re probably pronouncing those incorrectly, too.
The ending of video is pretty anti-climactic, though, with the group quickly moving on to learning how to pronounce Huawei. It’s “Wah-way,” in case you were wondering.
Pre-orders for the LG G4 have just gone live on Best Buy’s website for the AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint variants. Along with guaranteeing you’ll get the phone the day it launches on your carrier, the big-box store is even throwing in a $100 gift card to sweeten the deal. Expand Expanding Close
Following rumors and then a confirmation of the device’s existence last week from Samsung’s @SamsungTMRW Twitter account (the tweet has since been pulled), a new Facebook photo posted by Samsung Mobile Korea all but confirms the impending launch of an Iron Man-themed Galaxy S6 Edge. Expand Expanding Close
Following speculation since March of weaker-than-hoped-for sales by HTC of its flagship One M9 smartphone, rumors are spreading that the Taiwanese company has just cut component orders for the phone by ~30%. Expand Expanding Close
Update: According to a post in the /r/Android subreddit, customers who have purchased a 32GB Galaxy S6 or S6 Edge from T-Mobile in the past 14-60 days also have some special opportunities through the end of today. If you purchased your device less than 14 days ago, you can visit tmobile.com/promotions and enter the promo code MEMGS6 along with the phone number associated with your line and account PIN number to receive a free upgrade to the 64GB model upon approval. Those who purchased their device more than 14 days ago but less than 60 can go through the same process to receive a $50 rebate. This is the last day of the promotion so get on it!
Memorial Day is coming up this weekend and T-Mobile is celebrating the occasion with a sale on Samsung’s in-demand Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge flagship phones. Starting May 23rd and going through the 25th, the third largest carrier is offering the 64GB variants of both smartphones for the same price as their respective 32GB models. Expand Expanding Close
According to sources for Bloomberg, Google is set to announce an “an online picture sharing and storage service” separate of Google+. This isn’t exactly groundbreaking news, but it’s further confirmation of something we’ve been hearing about since as far back as August of last year.
Google Inc. is set to reveal an online picture sharing and storage service that will no longer be part of the Google+ social network, people familiar with the plans said.
Samsung has in the past taken the cover off new additions to its Galaxy Note line of phablets the day before IFA Berlin, held in early September, but according to a new report out today the successor to the Galaxy Note 4 might be coming a bit sooner…
Google has today announced big price drops for all Google Compute Engine Instance types, following the Moore’s law pricing philosophy that the company committed to last year. Effective today, the prices of virtual machines through Google Cloud Platform are dropping up to 30%, and Google is also introducing a new class of preemptible virtual machines that could bring prices even lower in some cases…
The Galaxy S6 is undeniably one of the most powerful handheld computers ever created (and many of the other Android flagships this year fall into the same category). Samsung’s device packs the best chipset the South Korean company has made yet, the octo-core Exynos 7420, along with 3 GB of RAM, bringing processing power that supersedes the capabilities of desktop computers from not many years ago.
But just how powerful is the Galaxy S6? As you can see, it would take the power of five PlayStation 2s to match it, but keep reading for a more detailed comparison, pitting the handset against smartwatches and supercomputers alike. This infographic makes many other interesting comparisons, my favorite being the almost identical processing power between the original Pebble smartwatch and the Nintendo 64… Expand Expanding Close
Another day, another Samsung Galaxy S6 Active leak. This time courteous of, well, Samsung itself. The device is listed in a table on the page for the company’s Samsung Plus benefits program.
The company seemingly hasn’t placed much effort into keeping this one under lock and key as we’ve already reported on severaldifferentleaks of the S6 Active over the past two days alone. The device is expected to be, like the S5 Active, a ruggedized variant of the flagship Galaxy S6 with similar internals and neither a fingerprint sensor nor capacitive touch back and mulitasking menu buttons, in favor of more rugged ones. This evening’s mistake on Samsung’s part all but confirms the Galaxy S6 Active should be arriving soon.
Update: Either the individual who sent that tweet from before (it was pulled) misspoke or information has changed, because in a press release today T-Mobile officially announced May 27th – so, tomorrow – online availability of the phone with a June 3rd launch in nationwide stores. The carrier in partnership with LG is also throwing in a 128GB SD memory card for free while supplies last, and apparently has an exclusive on the brown leather back plate, so get on it!
LG and T-Mobile have set off on a nationwide tour of the United States to promote the newly announced LG G4, and it appears that this tour has now brought us a firm date for the device’s in-store launch on the country’s third-largest carrier. In a conversation between the Twitter account of LG’s Preview Tour and a prospective customer, LG said the following in response to a question about availability on AT&T:
It’s not clear whether the tweet was confirming availability on AT&T or T-Mobile, or both, but considering that the Twitter account is part of a promotional campaign between T-Mobile and LG, we have to assume they’re confirming a launch date for the Magenta network.
All the major U.S. carriers have committed to selling the device—Sprint and US Cellular have pledged to start selling it in June (you can pre-register on Sprint here)—but this is the first time we’ve heard a hard timeline for nationwide availability from any carrier. Expand Expanding Close
Coinbase today received an update on Android (and iOS) which allows users in the United States and Europe to sign up and link their bank accounts straight from the mobile app…
Samsung has begun sending out an email to Samsung Wallet users notifying them that the service will no longer be available as of June 30th (via SamMobile). The email says that coupons clipped with Samsung Wallet will no longer be available after the termination date, but that all “tickets & reservations” will still be available by visiting partner applications… Expand Expanding Close
Google is in the process of a radical change in its approach to IT security, reports the WSJ, moving its data from protected internal networks out onto the Internet.
At first glance, it sounds like a crazy move: moving corporate data from protected internal systems, only accessible within Google buildings and via VPN, to publicly-accessible servers. But Google engineering manager Rory Ward believes that the conventional ‘perimeter security’ model no longer reflects the realities of today’s world.
The perimeter security model is often compared to a medieval castle: a fortress with thick walls, surrounded by a moat, with a heavily guarded single point of entry and exit. Anything located outside the wall is considered dangerous, while anything located inside the wall is trusted. Anyone who makes it past the drawbridge has ready access to the resources of the castle […]
However, with the advent of a mobile workforce, [this approach is] fraught with danger.
In other words, if half your workforce is accessing resources from outside the network anyway, you need a different mindset … Expand Expanding Close
